Photo Essays

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    Russia: Peaceful Moscow Rally December 24, 2011
    December 30, 2011
    Massive peaceful demonstrations continued in Russia following the December 4, 2011 parliamentary elections without interference from the authorities. On December 24, over 100,000 protestors gathered at Sakharov Avenue in central Moscow calling for free and fair elections and governmental accountability. As they had two weeks earlier, demonstrators wore white ribbons and carried white flowers and balloons, symbolizing the peaceful nature of the protest. Protest leaders announced they would continue to hold peaceful rallies in Moscow and other cities until the Kremlin meets their demands. The authorities’ response to the rallies will be of paramount importance as the March 4, 2012 presidential election draws closer. Human Rights Watch will continue to monitor these developments.
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    Russia: A Voice of Discontent
    December 12, 2011
    On December 10, 2011, over 50,000 people assembled for a protest rally in central Moscow, just a bridge away from the Kremlin. The scope of this demonstration was unprecedented for “Putin’s Russia.” Overwhelmed by the dramatic rise in protest mood following the December 4, 2011 parliamentary election, the authorities did not interfere with the event. Demonstrators wore white ribbons on their coats and carried white flowers to symbolize peaceful protest. Democrats, communists, anarchists, radical lefties, and people with no political convictions came together to assert their right to make an electoral choice and their fundamental democratic liberties. Thousands of Russians made it clear that they would no longer tolerate being ignored.
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    Mali: Child Labor and Mercury Use in Artisanal Gold Mining
    December 5, 2011
    An estimated 20,000 to 40,000 children work in Mali’s artisanal (small-scale) gold mines, where they dig pits, work underground, carry, and crush ore. They also touch and inhale mercury, a highly toxic substance that is used to extract gold from the ore. Mercury attacks the central nervous system and is particularly harmful to children. Most child laborers in mines never go to school; some are as young as six years old.
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    Nepal: Adding Insult to Injury
    November 29, 2011
    Five years after the end of Nepal’s civil war, victims on both sides of the conflict are still waiting for justice. Human Rights Watch and Advocacy Forum have found that families of those killed or disappeared have fought hard to obtain justice, but not a single perpetrator has been successfully prosecuted for serious abuses in a civilian court. Evidence shows that police face intense pressure from senior government officials, political parties, and the Nepal army to obstruct justice, ignore supreme court rulings and evade prosecution. In the absence of a robust legal system that would force compliance, perpetrators of human rights violations continue to enjoy impunity.
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    Cambodia and Malaysia: Domestic Workers Face Abuse
    October 24, 2011
    The Cambodian and Malaysian governments’ failure to regulate recruiters and employers leaves Cambodian migrant domestic workers exposed to a wide range of abuses. Tens of thousands of Cambodian women and girls who migrate to Malaysia have little protection against forced confinement in training centers, heavy debt burdens, and exploitative working conditions. Some recruitment agents in Cambodia forge fraudulent identity documents to recruit children, offer cash and food incentives that leave migrants and their families heavily indebted, mislead them about their job responsibilities in Malaysia, and charge excessive recruitment fees.
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    Libya: Unsecured Explosive Weapons
    October 24, 2011
    Human Rights Watch inspected two unsecured explosive weapon facilities near Sirte, Libya on October 22, 2011. The two unguarded sites contained vast amounts of surface-to-air missiles, tank and mortar rounds, large numbers of munitions, and thousands of guided and unguided aerial weapons. For months, Human Rights watch has warned the National Transitional Council, Libya’s transitional government, about the dangers posed by these vast stockpiles of unguarded weapons, and the urgent need to secure them. Surface-to-air missiles can take down civilian aircraft, and the explosive weapons can be converted easily into the car bombs and IEDs that have killed thousands in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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    Burma: Army Committing Abuses in Kachin State
    October 7, 2011
    Burma’s armed forces have committed serious abuses against ethnic Kachin civilians in renewed fighting in Kachin State. Human Rights Watch conducted a fact-finding mission to the conflict areas in Kachin State in July and August, visiting abandoned villages and eight remote camps of internally displaced persons. Witnesses described serious abuses committed by Burmese soldiers, including killings and attacks on civilians, pillaging of villages, and the unlawful use of forced labor. Tens of thousands of people have fled through the mountains and jungle at the height of the rainy season, driven away by fear of army attacks.
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    Laos: Drug Users Forcibly Detained
    October 7, 2011
    Police and local militia in Vientiane are forcibly detaining people who use drugs in a so-called treatment center where they risk beatings and other abuse. Homeless people, street children, people with mental disabilities, and others deemed “undesirable” are often detained in the center as well. The Somsanga Treatment and Rehabilitation Center, which has received a decade of international support from the United States, the United Nations, and other donors, holds detainees without due process, and many are locked in cells inside barbed wire compounds. Former detainees told Human Rights Watch that they had been held for periods of three months to more than a year, and those who try to escape may be brutally beaten.
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    Côte d’Ivoire: Post-Election Crimes
    October 6, 2011
    During six field missions between January and July 2011, Human Rights Watch documented details of war crimes and likely crimes against humanity committed by forces under both former President Laurent Gbagbo and President Alassane Ouattara. At least 3,000 people were killed and 150 women raped during the conflict period, which took place from November 2010, when Gbagbo lost an election and refused to yield power, through June 2011, after Ouattara took power in April 2011. Based on research and interviews with independent sources, including over 500 victims, witnesses, government officials and medical professionals, Human Rights Watch documented violence and targeted acts perpetrated along political, ethnic, and religious lines.
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    The Rehab Archipelago: Abuses in Vietnam Drug Detention Centers
    September 7, 2011
    Human Rights Watch has found that tens of thousands of people in government-run drug detention centers in Vietnam are held without due process for years, forced to work for little or no pay, and suffer torture and physical violence. Government-run drug detention centers, mandated to “treat” and ”rehabilitate” drug users, are little more than forced labor camps where drug users work six days a week processing cashews, sewing garments, or manufacturing other items. Refusing to work, or violating center rules, results in punishment that in some cases is torture.